Stop And Stare
by LittleMissUnfortunate
Summary: Ever wondered what Thalia's life was like before she arrived at Camp Half Blood and why she doesn't ever talk about her family? Reflective one-shot of Thalia's troubled childhood. ShadowPalace & WindowChild One-Shot Challenge: Week 2


**Hello all! This is written for WindowChild and ShadowPalace's one-shot challenge week 2. (:**

**Some of you may know me as _XxRock and RollxX_, but I finally out grew that name and now my pen name is changed to _Wistful Symphony_. So don't get confused.**

**So this is basically about Thalia's childhood before she 'died' and in here her mom is an alcoholic starlet, well I went onto the Wikipedia page for Percy Jackson (yes, I'm that much of a dork) and it stated there that her mom was an alcoholic starlet. I'm not sure if they mentioned it in the books though. Anyway here I've given her the name Denise, since her real name wasn't mentioned in any of the books either. Also feel free to correct me if any of the facts in here are wrong. So I hope everyone enjoys and good luck to the other contestants. (: **

**P.S Remember to review! (: Reviews are love!**

**Warning: Contains minor sexual references.**

**_Song Choice_**

**_Losing Grip by Avril Lavigne_**

* * *

Her hands shook uncontrollably as the tiny plus symbol appeared on the thin stick. This couldn't be happening to her, this was never planned. She was a Hollywood star for God's sake, the media would go on a frenzy if they ever found out. Her head spun as her knees buckled and not before long she found herself kneeling in front of the toilet once again.

Her silky brown locks hung in front of her face as she checked herself in the mirror, her make up ran down her face and the bags under her eyes were becoming reluctantly noticeable. Talk about a hangover.

A discreet knock came from the door and a recognizable male voice trailed in from the small gap at the bottom, "Hey Denise, you done in there? You have an interview in an hour!"

She closed her eyes and buried her face in the sink as her manager continued to bang on the door. "Alright! God, Martin calm yourself."

Denise jerked open the door and walked back into the room, she apprehensively sat down on the bed and looked up at her manager.

"Well? Are you?" he asked pacing nervously in front of her.

She nodded her head silently, she slowly began to regret telling him of the situation in the first place. Sure he was in charge of her career and everything, but maybe she could have afforded to keep this secret to herself.

"Do you know who the father is?"

She racked her mind for any memories of that night, she hadn't found out much about him, only that his name was Zeus or something and that he was a descendant of Greek ancestry. Well something like that. After all she was drunk when she met him, and the rest of their meeting was just a blur. The last thing she could remember was waking up in the morning in an empty bed. And now a week later, she felt insanely sick.

She looked back up at Martin, "I don't know where he went."

He looked positively fuming now, "I told you something like this would happen if you carried on drinking! Why did you refuse the help those people offered you? Do you have any idea what this would do to your career?!"

She reached over to her bedside table and grabbed a packet of cigarettes, she ripped the box open and lit one of them. She puffed a breath of smoke into the air, "Get a grip Martin, you're my manager not my mother. It was just a one night stand."

"_Just_ a one night stand?! Denise your pregnant and you don't even know who the father is! You can sit here and act like nothing happened?"

Denise played with a strand of her hair with her free hand as she spoke. "Tell you what, I'll have the baby and give it to my sister to take care of. Problem solved. Carrie always wanted a child anyway."

"Have you completely lost your mind?" he yelled.

She shot him a glare, "Look this way the media won't find out, I'll just lay low for a while. Move to Sweden or something."

He decided it wouldn't be wise to argue with a million dollar actress, just in case she ended _his_ career."Fine, it's your decision."he said giving in.

* * *

A 5-year-old Thalia stared out her glazed window as she sat on her small bed. A tiny creak escaped from the door as it slowly drifted open. She tore her gaze away from the window and stared up at the face of her guardian with her electric blue eyes, Carrie smiled down at her.

"Ready to go visit your mom?"

A quiet reply escaped her lips as she hopped off her bed. She never understood why she had to live with her aunt if her own mother was perfectly capable of looking after her, she'd visit Denise every 2 weeks or so. But whenever she was there her mom was never around, which resulted in her being baby sat by that grumpy man named Martin. She'd always get the sense of her mother not wanting her at all, although Carrie cared for her a great deal, it didn't feel like a mother's love.

**

As she walked down the empty hallway to her mother's penthouse, her small backpack slung tightly around her shoulder. She reached up on her toes and banged against the door.

The housekeeper in uniform answered the door and she announced, "Ms. Grace is getting ready for an event in the next room. You can wait here for her."

Thalia sighed while taking a seat on a wide plush couch, knowing her mother wouldn't be around for this visit either.

* * *

The pen in her hand shuddered as she scribbled down a few uncomprehendable letters onto a blank piece of paper. Right now, she was more frustrated than ever with her dyslexia. She dropped the pen down and turned around to check her backpack one last time, finalizing all her equipment she picked up her knife and ran out the door.

She turned and glanced at the dim lights in her former home. Thalia knew what she was doing, she wanted this. Although Carrie had taken care of her all these years, she didn't want to live the way she did anymore.

A cold breeze hit her bare skin as she ran through the darkness, not before long she set herself down to rest. Thalia lay on her back and gazed up at the mesmerizing stars, suddenly she heard a ruffle from the bushes nearby. She immediately reached for her knife and readied herself.

"Who's there?" she called.

The leaves of the bush ruffled again and a dark figure stumbled through them and tumbled to the floor. She pointed her knife at the figure, staring at him in shock.

"Don't hurt me, please!" the figure pleaded.

Thalia scrambled for her torch and she directed the light right at the figure. Her mouth fell wide open, "Wha- Are you a goat?!"

"Actually, I'm a satyr but close enough. My name's Grover." He stood up and dusted himself off. He inched towards Thalia but she kept her knife at him.

"Stay back! What do you want?"

Grover kept his hands up in defense, "I'm here to protect you, now if you just lower that sharp thing of yours. I'll tell you everything."

Thalia found herself rather curious and she lowered her weapon, and so came the stories of the Greek gods and Camp Half Blood. She was silent for the duration of the story, pondering whether to believe them or not. Once Grover has concluded the story a flash of light appeared in front of them.

After they squinted for a few moments, they found a young looking women standing front of them wearing a business suit and glasses. Her hair was done up in a bun and she stared down at Thalia. Beside Thalia, Grover bowed and murmured, "Lady Athena."

She stared up at Athena awestruck, "So it's true." She muttered.

"Indeed it is." Athena announced proudly, "Your father has sent me here to be of a little assistance to you."

"My father? Who-" Athena ignored her and produced a small metal bracelet, she handed it over to Thalia.

"It's named Aegis, you'll want to open it at a later stage." Thalia glanced over at Grover in confusion but he was staring up at Athena in amazement.

"Oh and here," she handed another canister over to Thalia, "Your father sends his love."

Thalia's expression suddenly turned hard, and she shook her head. "If he loves me so much then why did he just leave my mom and I?"

She waited for an answer from the goddess, but Athena just smiled slightly and disappeared in a beam of light.

"The nerve of-" she fumed.

She stopped herself abruptly when she noticed Grover's expression. He stared at something above her head with his mouth hanging wide open.

"What?" she asked.

He pointed towards a glowing symbol above her head, the light from it illuminated their surroundings. "You- daughter- Zeus-" he stuttered.

Thalia continued to stare at him in confusion, until he grabbed her hand and sprinted off into the darkness, "We've got to get you to camp, _now_."

* * *

Thalia tore through the empty sidewalk with the rain pounding down on her skin. Someone ran beside her, but it wasn't Grover. She had lost him months ago, and now she had found a new accomplice. They turned into a deserted alley full of dumpsters and she tumbled to the cold, wet ground exhausted. The boy sat down beside her panting. In the sudden quiet, she could only hear the rain splattering onto the ground and the pounding in her chest.

"I think we lost them." The boy breathed. His blonde hair clung to his face from the rain, and he had a deep gash in his arm. Thalia sat up next to him and lifted his arm, causing him to wince in pain.

"Luke, we have to get that taken care of." She reached into her backpack and pulled out a discarded piece of cloth. She wrapped it around his arm and started securing it tightly. Luke smiled while she worked.

"Look at you, 11 years old and you already look like a pro."

She looked up at his blue eyes and smiled back, "Do you think we'll ever make it to camp?"

He nodded, "Why wouldn't we?"

"I've been on the run for 4 years, yet I'm not there yet." She pulled her jet black locks from her face and sighed. "I wish we knew what we were doing."

"But we do, we both have the same purpose. Our families don't need us, that's why we're going to camp. We'll figure out our lives from there, like Grover said. It's the only place we'll be safe."

They both sat up against the wall of the alley, shivering from the wet rain. After a while something caught Thalia's eye. The street lamp's light shone onto a corner of the alley, on the floor of the corner lay a damp magazine. Even though she was a few feet away, she could make out the bold headline.

She stood up and walked over to it picking it up, reading the headline over and over again. Despite her dyslexia she could figure out what the words meant. Luke strode up behind her, "What's this?" He read the headline over her shoulder and he fell silent but he tried his best to comfort her.

She dropped the magazine and stepped away from him, "No, I'm perfectly fine. It doesn't matter that much to me. We were never that close."

"Thalia-"

"Come on, we have to go. The monsters will find our scent soon."she picked up her spear and her backpack, looking over at Luke. He sighed and picked up his belongings following her. As they ran back through the darkness, Luke could see Thalia's true feelings. Even though she claimed none of it bothered her, deep down he could see it did.

Just like that, they continued with their journey, leaving behind the only memory Thalia had of her mother that read:

_R.I.P Denise Grace dies in drunk-driving accident. _


End file.
